Math Question

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Marilyn

Joy Ridenour of Huntersville, North Carolina, writes:Marilyn: The following question was on my son’s math test. He chose answer B and was marked wrong. The teacher says the answer is D. I was not able to explain why. Can you help?

The three winners of a spelling bee are Amy, Joe, and Rondell. The prizes are a chocolate bar, movie tickets, and ice cream coupons. To be fair, the principal puts all three names in one bag, all three prizes in another bag, and draws the name and the prize. What is the probability that Rondell gets the movie tickets? (A) 1/12; (B) 1/9; (C) 1/6; (D) 1/3.

Marilyn responds:

Here’s a straightforward way to look at it. Rondell will get one prize. There are three prizes, one of which is movie tickets. So Rondell’s chance of getting them is one out of three.